U.S. dollar firms up on dovish remarks from ECB officials

NEW YORK, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) — The U.S. dollar gained ground in late trading on Tuesday thanks to dovish comments from top officials from the European Central Bank (ECB).

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.25 percent at 95.6400 in late trading.

Any adjustment to monetary policy will be “gradual” and the ECB would remain “data-dependent” while assessing the implications for the medium-term inflation outlook, ECB President Christine Lagarde said on Monday.

ECB council member and Spanish central bank chief Pablo Hernandez de Cos Tuesday echoed that any central bank move “has to be gradual.”

“We expect this tailwind to reassert in the coming weeks as markets rethink their overly cautious view of the Fed,” said strategists with Bank of America Global Research on Monday.

As long as the Fed’s response to genuine upside inflation risks in the United States remains under-appreciated, “we are buyers of U.S. dollar on dips, particularly on the lower beta pairs,” said a research note by Bank of America Global Research.

In late New York trading, the euro was down to 1.1418 dollars from 1.1457 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound was up to 1.3543 dollars from 1.3538 U.S. dollars in the previous session.

The U.S. dollar bought 115.5380 Japanese yen, higher than 115.06 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar was down to 0.9254 Swiss franc from 0.9255 Swiss franc, and it rose to 1.2713 Canadian dollars from 1.2664 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar rose to 9.1485 Swedish Krona from 9.1301 Swedish Krona.